SILENT REBELLION (A BRAS-LE-CORPS) Discovery

In this emotive period piece, 15-year-old Emma (in a stirring breakout performance from Lila Gueneau) is a paragon of virtue, living in accord with the strict moral code of her small Swiss village. But, bordering France in 1943, the foundation of that morality is shaken when the village denies safe harbor to French refugees trying to escape the Nazis. The guilt and impotence of that hypocrisy weigh heavily on the town’s Protestant minister, played by a despondent and world-weary Grégoire Colin (BEAU TRAVAIL, 35 SHOTS OF RUM). However, the same inaction does not plague Emma. She faces a different kind of test when a sexual assault leads to an unwanted pregnancy, putting everything she has worked for in jeopardy. She must envision her life anew, refusing silent acquiescence to the status quo. Marie-Elsa Sgualdo’s triumphant debut feature is a feminist coming-of-age drama that examines the costs of complacency and extols the sacrifices required to act with courage and conviction. –Travis Weedon